I still check in on the Johns Hopkins COVID-19 dashboard from time to time (but not at the twice-daily frequency I used to) and when I went to do that yesterday, I saw this message: JHU has stopped collecting data as of 03 / 10 / 2023After three years of around-the-clock tracking of COVID-19 data from around the world, Johns Hopkins has discontinued the Coronavirus Resource Center’s operations. The site’s two raw data repositories will remain accessible for information collected from 1/22/20 ...
Sick and tired of being sick and tired
I have been a grown-ass adult for decades now and I cannot remember a time where so many terrible events were happening in such rapid succession. There is no respite. It's all so heavy. Current events are terrible and I am sick about the mass murders of Black shoppers in Buffalo and schoolchildren in Texas. I have no coherent words to share, except for a very insightful idea from a TikTok that instead of using the term "Gun Control" we should be using "Gun Responsibility" and force ...
We caught Covid.
I didn't catch it from HersheyPark last August, or the indoor wedding that I was advised to skip in October, or from the Walt Disney World trip in January. Or from going to see a show in February, or going back to the office 1x/week starting in March*, or from going to TNP's giant conference in mostly-unmasked Tennessee. Not even the baseball game on Mother's Day. Or from the now-dozens of times I've eaten indoors in restaurants. I didn't catch it from any of those bad ...
Friday 5: Twenty-four months
Hello and happy Friday. Wanna know what I did yesterday? I WENT TO THE OFFICE for the first time since my laptop was acting up in October! I took the train and sat in the mostly empty office and had a frigging blast away from construction noises and lawnmowers and barking dog and delivery drivers and my monotonous, depressing, and isolating work from home life. We're still wearing masks at work, but at this point you could tie a smelly gym sock around my face and I'd still goofily grin at ...
Friday 5: Aha!
Hello and happy Memorial Day weekend! Today is my first Summer Friday! TNP gives us alternating Fridays off during the summer, one of the best perks of working there. But it's chilly and rainy, so no beach for me. I don't remember how long it's been since I went a week without blogging, so I'll make up for it with a chonky (as the internet kids say) post. Last Saturday, WM and I met two of his former students for brunch. Brunch. In Philadelphia! We went to the Red Owl Tavern and while the ...
Birthday Weekend
No not me, WM! We woke up bright and early on Saturday to take a long trip to a flea market on the grounds of the PA Renaissance Faire in Mount Hope. It was almost a 2 hour long trip but it was so nice just being OUT that I didn't mind the ride at all. It was heartwarming to see the Philadelphia skyline again. Plus, once you get on the turnpike past King of Prussia, the scenery is all rolling hills and farmland. We had a blast in BrunhIILde. The market itself was a bit of a bust - we ...
Scaredy-Kim gets out there!
Friends, I had a delightful weekend. TNP's conference successfully wound down on Friday, and Mom delivered an Entenmann's chocolate cake to my door. VERY NICE. For dinner, I had some spaghetti with pesto I froze from last year alongside a glass of Merlot. I participated in Movie Night for the first time in an age (Weird Science, very problematic in an 80s way - I need to do another Movie Night roundup soon) and was so far past the point of exhaustion and, to be honest, emboldened by wine, that I ...
Pfizer COVID-19 VAX #2!
On Friday I received the 2nd of the 2 Pfizer vaccines, which means in 2 weeks I'll be protected from serious illness/death and mostly protected from catching and transmitting the original strains and possibly substantially protected from the newer variants? The news changes every day. The side effects of vaccine #2 are on a spectrum that ranges from nothing to two days of sickness. I ended up with a fever that lasted about 18 hours. Friday, 11:30am - I receive the vaccine and the nurse ...
Friday 5: Consumer Reports
Happy Friday! Today I was off from work for this momentous event: After which I TORE off my mask and licked the doorhandles. Nah. I kept my mask on and still used hand sanitizer because I care about most others. In two weeks I'll have as much immunity as I'll ever have and to celebrate I'm going to go to the library. I'll be the one happily crying in the stacks. After I got home and had lunch, Mom called. Her car broke down about 10 miles away. Thankfully, she was in a parking lot. I my ...
Friday 5: Twelve Months
HI! This post is dark and sad and angry, okay? So if that would upset you (looks at family) maybe you should come back in a few days when I post pictures of my little seedlings, okay? If you're here for the Friday Five, scroll down.A year ago was my last Friday in the office. We were supposed to only be out for the remainder of March. The plan was to flatten the curve of people getting sick to a level that hospitals can manage. We failed. Today, more people are sick than there were back when the ...
Friday 5: A Clubhouse Ain’t Nothing but a Sandwich
Guess what I did today? I was supposed to receive the first jab last week but the winter storm postponed my appointment until today. Even though I did not jump the line (I have moderate asthma and of course the study comes out 2 days ago saying asthmatics have less chance of getting it, probably because we are all hiding at home with Doritos) I feel remarkably guilty about receiving it when so many who need to get it before me, can't. But I can't force those who don't want it to get it, ...
Friday 5: Brr!
Happy Friday from my day off, which is being spent in the same place as where I am when I work. I took today off because I'm supposed to be receiving my first COVID-19 vaccine. ALAS... We have had winter storms here for the last 3 Thursdays and this was no exception. Because of this ... mess ... my vaccine was rescheduled (automatically!) until next Friday. I'm not taking next Friday off - I'll just zip out there and back and call it a lunch hour. Kim of last April would have been crying ...
